Campaign

Presidential hopeful Swalwell leaves door open for reelection to House

by Reid Wilson - 06/04/19 1:43 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO — Democratic presidential hopeful Eric Swalwell sees June as his time to shine — but if America doesn’t fall in love with the four-term congressman, he’s still open to running for a fifth term in the House.

Swalwell (D-Calif.) is in the midst of the first real television blitz of his two-month-old 2020 presidential campaign. He appeared at a CNN town hall event Sunday, was on “The Daily Show” on Monday and on Tuesday he joins “The View” for a daytime segment.

{mosads}“June’s an opportunity to introduce myself to the country,” Swalwell told The Hill in an interview this weekend, on the sidelines of the California Democratic Party’s annual convention.

Swalwell has already met polling criteria for inclusion in this month’s first Democratic debates, on June 26 and 27, though he has not collected the 65,000 donors that would allow him to meet the Democratic National Committee’s second threshold.

He is not concerned yet with the polls that show him as an asterisk — or, on occasion, with the support of just one percent of respondents.

“It’s early. I think that I’m a candidate who is living this American struggle. My wife and I fight with insurance companies. My wife and I spend a lot of money on prescription drugs for our kids,” he said. “Elect a young family to the White House and you’ll get a voice who fights for solutions on gun safety, prescription drugs, health care, child care. We live it every day and we’ll fight for it in the White House.”

And if things don’t work out? Swalwell says he is in no rush to close the door on a bid for another term in the House.

“I’m running for president right now. Don’t have to make that decision [on the House race] until December,” Swalwell told The Hill. “We need this field to start shrinking so candidates can distinguish themselves. I hope to be part of the field as it shrinks. If I don’t, I’m going to be realistic about my options.”

In a field of better-known candidates, Swalwell has sought to stand out by embracing calls for gun safety legislation. He said other candidates may pay lip service to an issue that has come to unite the Democratic Party, but he hopes to corner the market.

“On the issue of gun violence, I am the champion who is saying enough is enough, and that has to be a top priority. We can’t just respond to the last mass shooting. I want to challenge our candidates to make it a priority too,” Swalwell said. “Is it something you talk about in your stump speech or do you wait until someone asks you a question about it? That’s kind of how I distinguish people in this field.”

Tags 2020 Democratic field 2020 Democratic primary Eric Swalwell